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sneezingfetishftw-fics · 11 days

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Insufferable (7/7)

At long last, Vox's suffering is complete! (For this fic anyway lol, I'll probably torture him again later). Enjoy the final chapter.

Previous chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Wavs: 1 3

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“Are you sure you’re going to be alright, Amorcito?” Val asked, stroking Vox’s arm.

Vox shook his head. “You can’t come along, Val. It would make negotiations even more tense, and that’s the last thing we need.”

“Do you want me to…” Velvette started.

Vox shook his head, then winced from the pain of moving it. “Someone needs to keep running the company while I’m gone.” He sighed. “You’ve done well so far, just… heh’tzzzzch! Just keep it up. I’ll be fi… hi… hih… hih’TZZZZZSCHT! I’ll survive.”

“Alright, but if you’re not back by tomorrow I’m coming after you!” Velvette said, her expression intimidating despite her stature.

Vox chuckled. “Deal,” he said, walking out the door.

The walk to the hotel was every bit as awful as Vox had expected. To make matters worse, it seemed the trees had chosen today to release all their fucking pollen. There were several times Vox had to hypnotize someone who witnessed his disheveled state, and having Alastor go through his body to do the hypnotizing was a thoroughly unpleasant feeling, like someone crawling under his skin and pushing all his organs out. He may have wanted Alastor inside him, but not like this.

By the time he finally arrived at the hotel, Vox was an absolute mess. His suit was wrinkled from doubling over with the more intense sneezes, his screen was dull, his movements were slow and weak, and he was pretty sure his voice was shot too, if he still had his voice at all.

Charlie did a double take at the door, closing it in shock for a moment before she finally left it open long enough for Vox to speak.

“Greetings, your Highness. I… Hhhhh’tzzzzzmp!” Charlie raised an eyebrow as the sparks flew. Velvette had finally managed to teach Vox how to use a handkerchief, but that didn’t stop the old television in the lobby from shorting out. “Excuse me,” he said, trying desperately to find his usual charm and professionalism.

“Bless you, Mr. Vox. What are you doing here?” Charlie asked, staring at him with pure confusion.

“Please, call me Vox.”

“Yeah, what are you doing here?” Vaggie repeated, staring with more hostility than confusion.

Vox sighed. There was no point tiptoeing around it, especially since he didn’t know how long his voice would last. But he was a businessman, he knew the importance of selling to his audience, so taking the right angle was important here. Vaggie would see through any bullshit—the main thing that mattered to her was honesty. And Charlie? The bleeding heart was so big on her sleeve it’s a wonder her arm hadn’t fallen off. He died a little inside as he realized what he had to do. Loathe as he was to appear weak, there was no doubt that groveling and being pathetic was the best way to tug on those heartstrings.

“As you may have noticed, I’m not exactly in the best state at the moment,” he began, breaking into a coughing fit that he let drag on for longer than it would have naturally.

“I can see that, but uh… why come here?”

“Well, uh, it’s kind of a long story, but I am looking specifically for your heh… heh…heh…heh…heh’TZZZZZZSH! For your help, Princess.” As he dragged out the buildup a little longer, he wondered whether this was the right move. Would Charlie be grossed out by his illness? But the sympathetic look on her face told her all he needed. After a moment, her face shifted to one of realization.

“Oh! Alastor said to expect a visitor. Someone who wanted to try redemption? Was that you?”

God fucking dammit. Of course Alastor would have said something like that. Now he had to pretend to be caught up in Charlie’s hippie nonsense… on second thought, maybe not. The doubtful glare from Vaggie reminded him that even the smoothest of lies wouldn’t work. And it’s not like Alastor would step in to help him with hypnosis here. Vox was saved from his musings by a wracking cough, one so awful on its own that there was no need for exaggeration.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! Here you are standing in the doorway, when you must feel terrible! Please, come in! Can I get you some water?” Vox nodded weakly as he stumbled in. Technically he probably could have walked better than that, but there was no point spending the effort when appearing weak gave him an advantage. Vaggie gave him the side-eye. It was clear she wasn’t 100% convinced. He took a long gulp of the water, disappointed that it did nothing to soothe his throat. Maybe Charlie would get him some tea later. He wouldn’t be the one to ask, though. He was already about to ask for a lot. Charlie opened her mouth to speak, but paused as Vox had an absolutely horrendous sneezing fit. He had thought it was bad on earth getting illness and allergies at the same time, but there was no doubt that it was far worse in hell. To add to his frustration, Charlie had a ridiculous determination to bless every single sneeze. Vox wanted to claw off his entire face, resisting the urge only because he lacked the energy.

After he was finally done sneezing, Vaggie broke the silence. “Alright, Vox. We know you didn’t come here just to look all gross and pathetic. What do you actually want?”

Vox frowned as he realized his voice was gone. Why now? Ugh. He deliberated for a moment, then smacked the side of his head, hoping to Satan it would work this time or he would look like even more of a fool. Thankfully, that seemed to have done the trick. “As you might have guessed, I’m sick.” Vaggie rolled her eyes at the obvious statement. “What you might not know is, Alastor did this.” He grimaced with the restraint it took to not curse his rival. “It was a targeted virus,” he said bitterly. “Not contagious,” he added as an afterthought upon seeing their concern.

The pair stared at him for a while. Charlie spoke up first. “You want me to… talk to Alastor?”

“Not quite. I already talked to Alastor. He agreed to… hi’tzzzch! He agreed to remove the virus if I do a favor for you. You decide the favor.” Charlie’s eyes opened wide in surprise and excitement, then she got a look of intense concentration as she tried to consider how to handle this power. Vaggie’s eyes narrowed, and it was clear to Vox that she saw through the power play here. Still, that wasn’t enough reason to refuse what could be a very advantageous deal. The hum of fans echoed through the room as Vox awaited his fate.

“It starts with sorry,” Charlie said.

Vox raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

“She said it starts with sorry, not that it ends with sorry, dumbass,” Vaggie corrected.

“Be nice, Vaggie, we have to assume he’s trying. But yes, you make a good point. You can’t just say sorry, you also have to not do those things in the future.” Vox opened his mouth and Charlie quickly added, “Before you go claiming that that’s not one favor, keep in mind that… bless you! Bless you again! Oh dear, bless you!” She realized Vox hadn’t been opening his mouth to protest after all. After a few minutes of sneezing and blessing (seriously, did this girl never get tired?), Charlie resumed her speech. “Uh, as I was saying, this can be defined as the following single favor: repent.” Vox thought he caught a glimpse of Charlie’s horns peeking out on that last word and he gave a shudder which he managed to pass off as a shiver. Pissing off the princess of hell definitely seemed like a bad idea.

“Right, um, uh, of course, Princess. Repent. Yeah, that makes sense.” He found himself stammering awkwardly as he grappled with the idea that Charlie could tear down everything he’d built. Could he refuse the deal and accept being sick forever? At Alastor’s mercy forever? No, that had to be worse than whatever Charlie would ask of him.

“What, afraid of a little redemption?” Vaggie asked, finally cracking a smile as she saw the fear he no longer had the energy to hide. “It was good enough for Sir Pentious, the demon you sent here to spy on us and then told to kill himself.”

Vox winced. That one really stung. But he knew it was deserved.

Angel walked into the living room and froze. “What the fuck is Vox doing here?” He glared at the TV demon. “Please tell me you didn’t bring Val.”

Vox shook his head, then cradled it in his hands as he felt the ensuing dizziness. Before he could speak, he found himself in another long sneezing fit. Angel’s expression gradually changed to one of amusement. It was rare to see the CEO so vulnerable. A nice change of pace.

“Vox here is trying his hand at redemption!” Charlie answered, beaming.

“Only because he wants to get out of being sick.” Vaggie amended, frowning.

“Redemption is redemption, even if the motive is less than perfect,” Charlie insisted.

Vox groaned, dreading this whole negotiation already. “Just tell me what you need me to do,” he said, the resignation in his voice even thicker than the congestion.

Angel strutted over, seeming to have gained a little more confidence from the whole situation. “How about you start with removing those cameras you put in my dressing room?”

“He WHAT?” Charlie asked, revealing her horns fully this time.

Vox tried to smooth down his suit as he thought this through. He’d never really cared for the cameras anyway - as much as he loved having eyes on everyone and exerting his control, he knew Angel Dust was Valentino’s plaything, and Vox would be lying if he said he wasn’t sometimes jealous of the attention. At the same time, he knew Val wouldn’t give up that power so easily. Vox thought back to the events earlier today. Wait, hadn’t Velvette seemed especially mad at Val? Maybe she knew something Vox could use as leverage against him. He sighed. “Consider it done.”

Angel rolled his eyes. “You really think I’m going to just take your word for it?” he asked, holding out his hand.

Vox groaned (more from the effort of moving than anything else) and took Angel’s hand. “I will remove the cameras from your dressing room as the favor for Charlie.”

“Nice try, asshole,” Angel said, refusing to shake. Val may have gotten one over on him years ago, but he knew better now. “Don’t forget the part where you also prevent cameras from being added back there later.”

Vox nodded wearily, too focused on wanting to go home to have the energy to argue. He updated the terms of the deal and shook Angel’s hand.

“Wait!” Charlie’s voice rang out, but she was too late. A crackle of electricity arced across Angel’s arm, and the porn star jumped back in shock.

“Sorry,” Vox said with a sniffle. “Forgot to warn you about that side effect of making a deal.” Wait, a sniffle? Was he still sick? Was Alastor a fucking liar?

Alastor entered the room, the ever-present smile on his face looking quite smug. “Now, this is an interesting bit of contract lawyering, isn’t it?” All eyes were on him.

“What do you mean?” Angel asked, shaking out his hand in an attempt to get it back to feeling normal.

“Quite a few deals going around here. I made a deal with Vox that relies on Vox making a deal with Charlie. Then Charlie discussed potential terms of that deal with Vox. Vox then made a deal with Angel that claimed to fulfill the deal with Charlie. But does that really count if Charlie didn’t give her explicit approval? And if not, then should that deal be discarded?”

Vox groaned. “This is giving me a headache. Stop being a show off and just give us the fucking answer already.”

“Now now,” Alastor said, smile burning brighter, “is that any way to treat the person who’s in charge of your fate?” Vox frowned. “As for the deals at hand,” Alastor continued, “let us return to Charlie. Charlie, do you accept this deal?”

Charlie shook her head. “The favor was to repent. I’m sure Vox has quite a bit more he’s guilty of so I’m not ready to close this deal just yet.” Alastor nodded approvingly. The girl was learning. Probably not enough to be wise to Alastor’s tricks, but she was learning nonetheless.

The room was uncomfortably still as Charlie contemplated her next move, the silence punctuated only by Vox’s sneezes and coughs. Finally, she had an answer. “Apology letters. To everyone in this hotel.” Vox scratched his chin and absentmindedly mimed typing. “Handwritten.” Handwritten? With these claws? That was torture in and of itself! “They get to respond with any grievances they have against you. And then,” Vox sunk further and further into the couch as he realized just how deep repentance goes, “you have to take sufficient action to address those grievances.”

Vox’s eyes went wide and he coughed into his fist. “Princess Morningstar, I appreciate the uh… thoroughness of that proposition, but, um… if I may, thah… ahh… ahh’TZZZZSH! That will take me some time. And I do have a business to run. Forgive me for asking, your Highness, but is there anything that can be done to make this a little more manageable?”

Alastor stepped forward, extending his microphone like an olive branch. “I think we can work something out to lessen your symptoms a bit. After all, you’ve survived allergy season just fine!” Vox suppressed a growl at that. “Oh and don’t forget, I’m a resident of the hotel, so I expect to see your best handwriting in that apology letter!” Alastor said, grinning so wide there was barely any room left on his face.

A grim line set across Vox’s face. He had no leverage here, and everyone knew it. “To repentance, then,” he said with a resigned sigh. “I will write apology letters to every member of the hotel and then, in response to each member’s one letter of grievances, I will take action as determined sufficient by Princess Charlie Morningstar. And doing all of this will fulfill the requested favor and thus free me from this damned virus. Now then,” he said, extending his hand, “do we have a deal?” He felt a sneeze building up as Charlie and Alastor took his hand, then swirls of green, red, and blue energy coursed through them and the sensation was gone. The sneeze was lost. God fucking dammit!

#my snezfic #snezbin hotel #and yes there is an obvious sequel possibility here idk if i'll write it though #also shoutout to snezbin discord for helping me a lil bit with plot and deciding how vox addresses charlie #took me a minute to figure out what the last line would be lol but i like it

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troofless · 3 months

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Quick Summary of Reverse 1999 1.3 Story

This is a story about how Matilda goes to Mor Pankh, a place in India, to see a meteor shower, and stops a star from falling on the village in the process.

Characters:

Matilda: St. Pavlov Foundation member and astrology enthusiast.

Shamane: Kumar's sister and arcanist. He left his family because he didn't like how they discriminated against his sister.

Kaalaa Baunaa: Kumar's student and friend. They studied a certain 'celestial body' during university but parted ways after being exposed as arcanists and expelled from the university as a result.

Kanjira: Local kid and arcanist. Sherjah takes care of her like a adoptive mother. She is disgusted at how arcanists treat humans.

Sherjah: Human. Takes care of human kids and Kanjira.

Kumar: Main antagonist. Kaalaa Baunaa's teacher, and Shamane's sister. She was (supposedly) abused and thrown out of her family because she showed no skills as an arcanist, and expelled from her university for being an arcanist. She is very bitter about not being able to fit anywhere.

Story:

The first chapter is a prologue where Kaalaa Baunaa reminisces about her time in the university with Kumar.

Matilda arrives at the train station in Mor Pankh. She's here to witness a rare meteor shower. She falls asleep at the train station.

Kanjira and her friend steal Matilda's stuff but are caught by a passing by Shamane. Matilda wakes up and chases them, and she bumps into Kaalaa Baunaa, who returns Matilda her stuff.

Kanjira offers to guide Matilda to the shrine to find clues about the meteor shower. Matilda accepts. They sneak into the shrine and Kanjira leaves.

Matilda is attacked by stone statues and is saved by Kaalaa Baunaa and Shamane.

Kaalaa Baunaa explains she is there to track down Kumar, her teacher and friend. There is a 'celestial body' that can be found in an alternate reality that can be reached through meditation. The 'celestial body' is like a star or planet. It is currently falling, and is predicted to land on Mor Pankh, killing everyone. Kaalaa Baunaa thinks that Kumar triggered this to happen because Kumar hates everyone in the village for discriminating against her. Kaalaa Baunaa and Kumar used to research this 'celestial body' in university together but they were expelled after being exposed as arcanists. They parted ways due to differences, but Kaalaa Baunaa continued her research on the 'celestial body' because that way, they can stay connected. Kaalaa Baunaa thinks that Kumar has contacted Manus Vindictae for help in summoning the 'celestial body'.

Shamane is here because he got a letter from Kumar, his sister. He has only seen her once in his life, because their family looked down on his sister. Their family is implied to have treated Kumar very badly. Disgusted by their treatment of his sister, Shamane left his family.

Kanjira overhears this talk and runs back to the village to warn everyone about the falling 'celestial body'. She is caught by Sherjah, her kind and human adoptive mother, who scolds her, having heard that Kanjira has been stealing from people.

Matilda, Kaalaa Baunaa and Shamane go to Kumar's house to find clues on how to find Kumar. They run into Kanjira and Sherjah. Sherjah promises to help evacuate the villagers. They discuss how to find Kumar but can't think of anything. Matilda tries to contact the Foundation but because of her low ranking, fails.

Sherjah tries to evacuate everyone but some of the arcanist families look down on Sherjah for being a human and refuse to leave. Sherjah stays behind to convince them. Kanjira tells Sherjah to leave them behind but Sherjah refuses. Sherjah tells Kanjira that if she leaves them behind, she'll be just like them, and that she wants this cycle of hatred to end. Kanjira leaves in tears.

Kanjira arrives at the train station to find it full of Manus Vindictae people. The Manus Vindictae people start attacking the villagers, and they have to hide.

Kaalaa Baunaa, Matilda and Shamane arrive at the train station and evacuate everyone to Shamane's house beside the train station. Matilda finally manages to contact the foundation but they won't arrive in time before the 'celestial body' crashes.

Kaalaa Baunaa resolves to meditate and enter the alternate reality to find Kumar. Shamane tells her it's a trap, but Kaalaa Baunaa is insistent on going.

She enters the alternate reality and finds Kumar. Kumar tells her she's fallen into a trap. By entering the alternate reality, Kaalaa Baunaa has triggered the 'celestial body' to fall. Kumar explains she once went back to see her family, who apologised to her because Kumar is famous and recognised now. But now all of her family except Shamane are dead. She wants to take revenge on her family but can't.

Kaalaa Baunaa returns. She apologises for triggering the 'celestial body' to fall. Shamane consoles her. He remembers there is a secret tunnel under his house that leads to a place outside the blast area of the 'celestial body'.

They go back to the village and rescue Sherjah and the rest of the villagers. Then they lead all the villagers under the tunnel.

In the secret tunnel they are blocked by a door, which is said to only open by a true leader who is trusted by his people. Shamane is discouraged because he is seen as a disgrace by everyone in the village, but Kanjira tells him in an inspirational speech not to care about what other people think. Shamane breaks down the door and leads everyone out.

Kaalaa Baunaa realises where Kumar is hiding -- in a secret basement under her house. Kaalaa Baunaa and Shamane go back to Kumar's house.

Underground, they find Kumar. Because of Manus Vindictae's experiments, Kumar is older and delusional. She is not in her right state of mind. Kumar panics and brings Kaalaa Baunaa and Shamane into the alternate reality. In there, Kumar is young, calm, and intellectual.

Kumar explains that she intends to die when the 'celestial body' crashes into the village. She wants to see the 'celestial body' before she dies. She doesn't care if the 'celestial body' kills everyone else in the process because no one cared about her.

Matilda and a few villagers meditate and enter the alternate reality, which causes it to become unstable. Kumar realises that the alternate reality will break if too many people enter and panics. They fight. This is the final boss battle.

The alternate reality breaks and everyone returns to reality. The 'celestial body' is no longer connected to the real world and cannot fall onto Mor Pankh. Having failed, Kumar shoots herself.

Hours later, the Foundation arrives and thanks Kaalaa Baunaa, Shamane and Sherjah for helping the villagers.

The story ends with everyone looking at the starry sky. Kaalaa Baunaa holds up a bullet (most likely the one that Kumar used to shoot herself) and muses to herself.

So clearly the story has undertones about how the discrimination and hatred between humans and arcanists can cause an individual (Kumar) to be bitter and plan to kill everyone, and that this hatred has to be actively stopped by someone who has the resolve to be kind and strong (Sherjah). And Kanjira and Shamane, who are in their way jaded by this discrimination happening to them, are more passive and content with the status quo are moved by this -- Kanjira is inspired by Sherjah, and then goes on to inspire Shamane.

#do not interact with me this is a post meant for someone on discord i do not care if this is inaccurate!!!!#alt text: shamane witnesses his sister and her ex fight it out #bro is just there fr becoming the last of his bloodline #shamane: i always wanted to say my bloodline ends with me #man the more i summarise the more glaring the plot holes are #like why manus vindictae just there #and why shamane is there just to be hot #why is there a stupid door that exists to be broken down #troofless stuff

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